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Fielder breaks down Home Run Derby picks

Fielder breaks down Home Run Derby picks

MILWAUKEE -- Prince Fielder made only one guarantee after selecting the National League's field for next week's State Farm All-Star Home Run Derby.

"I guarantee I'll swing hard," he joked.

Fielder always swings hard, and he'll be swinging for the fences at Chase Field on July 11 along with Matt Kemp of the Dodgers, Matt Holliday of the Cardinals and Brewers teammate Rickie Weeks. Fielder won the event in 2009 in St. Louis.

That NL foursome will compete against 2010 Derby champion David Ortiz's American League team. The Red Sox slugger also picked a teammate, Adrian Gonzalez, plus Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays and Robinson Cano of the Yankees.

"I wish I could invite everybody I knew," Fielder said. "That was the only part that was tough."

He especially wanted someone from the Arizona Diamondbacks, whose home ballpark, Chase Field, will host All-Star week, and considered outfielder Justin Upton. But Fielder couldn't pass on Kemp, who is having an MVP-caliber season, or Holliday, a two-time Derby veteran, or Weeks, his best friend in baseball.

"He's a teammate of mine, this is his first All-Star Game, and I'm really excited for him," Fielder said. "I want him to show people how far he can hit it."

The Derby, Fielder said, "is kind of intense. It's not as easygoing as you might think it is. You get serious, because of course you want to win."

The winning captain will get $150,000 for the charity of his choice, plus a $100,000 donation in his name to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

What did it mean to Weeks to have two Brewers in the field for the first time?

"We hit homers, I guess," Weeks said. "It's just for the fans to see that we're a small-market team, but we have guys that can play. It's one of those things where you know, show the world something and have fun out there."